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NEWS
Grodno Grave Struggle
by Yated Ne'eman Staff
According to a report from the BBC, municipal authorities in
Grodno, Belarus, are digging up the 300-year old local
cemetery -- which was in use until 50 years ago -- to expand
a football stadium. Jewish religious leaders from Britain
claim that thousands of Jewish graves have been
desecrated.
Rabbis who travelled there say they found human remains from
thousands of shattered graves strewn across the site.
Soviet authorities took over the cemetery in 1958 and built
Grodno's current football stadium on about a fifth of the
cemetery. Now the authorities want to expand the football
stadium and also to provide extra sports facilities.
Among those buried in the cemetery are thousands of Jews
killed in the Holocaust as well as important Jewish sages,
including Reb Nochumke of Horodna (niftar 5640/1880),
the rebbe of the Chofetz Chaim, the Yesod Veshoresh Ho'avodoh
(niftar 5554/1794) and HaRav Shimon Shkop who was
niftar in 5700/1940.
The Jewish community, and especially British organizations,
are working hard to halt the desecration, but so far they
have had no success.
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